“Two wrath flames, huh?”
The butcher was amazed that bringing Kilaba into the domain of wrath had given him two wrath flames. The butcher was about to dispel the domain when Alphee’s voice sounded again.
‘Don’t dispel the domain just yet. We need to take care of the second flame first.’
Eren narrowed his eyes when the gears in his head started churning. He asked Alephee while looking at the second flame which was azure blue and a bit smaller than the regular wrath flame.
‘Is it related to the monster continent?’
‘Yes.’ Alephee said promptly. Eren didn’t ask her anything regarding the azure blue flame anymore. He just wanted to know what he was supposed to do next. He had already kind of surpassed his limit in keeping the domain of wrath active.
It had started to affect him and he was feeling a bit of anger toward anything that he thought of. Still, the butcher was in control of his emotions.
‘Wait. Let me seal it with a time-element sealing spell.’
Alephee said to Eren before executing a spell he hadn’t heard of. In the next moment, the azure-blue flame stopped flickering and stood still as if it was just the image of the flame he was seeing.
Alephee also cast a spell on the usual wrath flame, freezing it in space and time. The butcher was taken aback by what he was seeing.
It now looked like both the flames had been frozen in ice blocks that wouldn’t melt no matter how much heat is provided to them. These frozen flames were about to fall on the ground, but the butcher used his wind element blades to carry them in his hands.
The butcher wasn’t surprised that Alephee could do it. But he was shocked by how she did it.
“This spell… How did you do it?”
Eren didn’t feel any mana signature from this spell. There was no fluctuation of surrounding mana either. He did not feel that Alephee was using his mana to cast time-element spells like usual. It was something he hadn’t seen or heard before.
Alephee chuckled before answering him.
‘This is what is known as the soul spell. It can only be cast by those who have soul sense. *Sigh. Now that I’ve cast it, I’ll take a short nap afterward.’
Eren’s eyes sparkled when he heard a new branch of the spell had opened up for him when he heard Alephee’s somewhat tired speech. He was about to ask her if he could learn something like this. But it was Alephee who anticipated the butcher’s question and answered him.
‘Don’t get too excited. It is too early for you to cast soul spells. Your soul has just come out of its shell. Let it grow and mature a bit. I’ll tell you when you are ready.’
Eren became angry at Alephee’s words. But he knew it wasn’t due to what she had said. The domain of wrath was affecting him. Alephee realized what was happening and commented.
‘Both of these flames can now be stored inside any storage space artifact. They would come to life once you imbue your mana into them. I suggest digesting the usual wrath flame inside the Oni dungeon. That space would provide you with maximum protection and safety for this.
The azure-blue wrath flame is a bit special. Let’s go to the Oni dungeon first before we can discuss this thing.’
Eren had a couple of questions in his mind. But since Alephee had said that the Oni dungeon would be an ideal place to digest his current gains, he stopped asking her. He didn’t mind waiting a bit to digest these flames.
***
The search and rescue party for Orc Lord Kilaba finally reached the mountaintop as per the clues their shaman had provided. Eren hadn’t done anything special to hide his tracks since he wanted these monsters to follow him.
So that they would know what had happened to their chieftain. The death of a chief would demotivate tribe members to stop chasing anyone. That’s because the fight for the next chieftain would begin shortly thereafter. The tribe was going to have a hard time controlling internal conflicts and dealing with other hostile tribes.
When the search and rescue teams reached the scene, all they saw was blood and gore spread everywhere at one corner of the mountain top. Every organ and every bone of something or someone was broken into many pieces.
The strange mana signature around the place created by the potion of innocence made it more difficult to identify the body that burst like a water balloon there. Shamans also vomited and became ill when they tried to cast their detective spells.
But suddenly one of the Orc Leaders found something suspicious in the distance. There was a branch of a tree that was lodged in the ground. It looked weird because there was no other vegetation in its vicinity.
“Chiefieye Kilaba!”
An Orc Soldier who was there to check on the Orc Leader’s orders yelled in surprise when he saw that something was placed at the top of that tree’s branch. He hadn’t yet received his clarity. Therefore, the way he pronounced the sentence in orcish made his tongue as broken as the guy who had killed Kilaba.
The branch had been used as a stand to hang Kilaba’s head. Eren had arranged Kilaba’s head in this way to make a statement for the Orc Leaders. That he knew they were coming and he was ready for them in case they decided to press the matters further.
***
After killing Kilaba, Eren had gone back to the army to complete a bunch of army assignments. Altashia was relieved from the army. He was offered the position of leading his army squad.
Eren refused his promotion in the army and gave it to Arjun. In return, he told the handsome elf that he should return the favor by managing things without Eren in the picture for a few weeks.
Eren also completed a bunch of assignments by being part of the different army squads in these two weeks. This was so that his records of clearing the missions stayed fresh in the official records. He would then depend on Arjun to make his absence from the army unnoticeable. The butcher knew how the system worked by now. And so did Arjun. They would not shy away from bending the rules in their favor for their own benefit.
During his free time, Eren received inputs regarding the potion manufacturing and supply chain from Renar and Viper. Lastly, he contacted Jake’s father to streamline the process, at least in the Lionhearts duchy.
Eren also kept tabs on the construction of White Raven town by keeping in touch with Agatha and Levine through spectral calls. He added his input whenever needed. The rest of the responsibilities were given to both women.
Three weeks after killing Kilaba, Eren was back in his Orc tribe to check on them. He was going to enter the Oni dungeon after wrapping these things up.
And of course, meet his treasures. And the first thing he heard was Baran doing something way out of the script.
